Headphones (variously referred to as earphones and headsets) are being manufactured today with fashionable elements of different shapes, colors and sizes. Some headphones have luminescent elements that enable them to glow. One example of such a headphone set is the !Tude® illuminating earphone developed and manufactured by HelpDezk Ltd. of Hong Kong. Another example is the Mulit EL Flash Earphone developed and manufactured by WANYU Technology Development Co., Ltd of China.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,319,762 to Andrea et al. describes a headphone that incorporates light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in the ear-buds, and a control module that changes the LEDs' luminescent pattern according to audio being played. The ear-buds, referred to as Blinx by Andrea®, are developed and manufactured by Andrea Electronics Corporation of Bohemia, N.Y.
Many luminescent headphones and other accessories use electro-luminescent (EL) wires (variously referred to as Lytec™). EL-wire is a specially manufactured wire with a core of phosphorescent material coated flexible copper wire. When a high frequency voltage is applied, the EL wire glows like neon.
A drawback with EL-wires is their high power consumption. EL-wire accessories come with external battery packs. The !Tude® uses 2 AAA batteries (3V DC), and the Mulit EL Flash Earphone uses a rechargeable Lithium battery (5V DC˜8V DC, 200 mA˜500 mA). The !Tude and the Multi include transformers to convert the battery voltage to the high-voltage required for the EL-wires. The Blinx by Andrea® earphones use batteries in their control module.
Use of battery packs makes the prior art luminescent earphones uncomfortable and cumbersome. Moreover, use of transformers often causes a humming noise, which interferes with the audio experience.
Thus it would be of advantage to develop luminescent headphones that have low power consumption, and that do not require their own batteries.